I rode the 2019 Hotter ‘N Hell Hundred yesterday. I arrived in Wichita Falls early Friday afternoon. I was too early to check in (didn’t open until 2:00 pm this year), so I went to the consumer show first. I bought my traditional cheap cycling jersey ($19.93 for a Canari jersey I liked this year), but also bought three pairs of cycling shorts. Mine were all getting pretty threadbare, and the Kucharik recumbent shorts I like can always be found at the consumer show for $30 a pair.

Next, I went to the First Christian Church to check in. I stayed at the gym there again this year. I was the only recumbent rider in sight there this year. I had both Friday evening dinner and Saturday morning breakfast at the church. You can come back and shower after the ride, so $50 is a real bargain for staying there, but with my veteran’s discount, it only cost me $25. Hard to beat that. I always drive down to Seventh Street and park there on ride morning. That leaves me with just a few blocks ride from the start, much appreciated when I’m headed back to the church after the ride.

I’ve now ridden the 100 mile route at HHH for 13 straight years. My meltdown near the end of last year’s route was a reminder for me that I won’t be able to complete this one hundred mile ride in a reasonable time forever. I’m 68 years old, missing half a lung, and with two heart conditions. I know the day is coming when I can’t do this any more. I’ll either have to stop making the trip to Wichita Falls, or choose a shorter route. I’m thinking that as long as I can complete the 100 mile route in under six hours, most of the years I attempt it, then I’ll keep doing it. Finishing in under six hours gets you out of the heat before the hottest part of the day, and keeps it from being a ridiculously long althletic undertaking for an old fart like myself.

So that was my mindset this year. After last year’s ride, which took me considerably longer than six hours to complete, I wanted to prove to myself that I was still strong enough to do this ride in a reasonable amount of time. As it turned out, my body held up well this year. Unfortunately, my tires didn’t. I kept myself at a reasonable pace early, never getting the average speed displayed by my Garmin much over 20 mph. By the time I got past Electra, and had been riding against that east southest wind for a while, it was barely over 19 mph. But it never got much below that. It was mostly cloudy, and the heat wasn’t bad at all. Those who bailed out of coming down this year because of the heat wave we’ve been having, shouldn’t have. Just like the hurricane year where the dire forecasts of rain kept a lot of riders away, the weather this year was great.

But I had a flat rear tire at mile 24. It was aggravating, since I was running very low mileage Conti Grand Prix tires, with Conti tubes. I never found anything in the tire, put in a new tube, and rode on. Looking back, it seems likely that whatever flatted me at mile 24 must have damaged the sidewall of my tire, because at mile 67, it blew out with a very loud bang. An examination revealed a sizeable tear on the sidewall. The tire was a dead soldier. But, ex-randonneur that I am, I carry a spare tire, along with two tubes. I would need it all on this day, but finished the ride without further troubles.

I spent 20 minutes fixing two flats. Other than the two stops to repair the tire, my only other stop was a one minute bladder break (I found an empty port-a-potty right beside the road at mile 60 something). So I was off the bike a total of 21 minutes. That’s a lot more off the bike time than I usually have at HHH. In two of my 13 rides there, I haven’t stopped at all. But, in spite of being off the bike for 21 minutes, I finished the ride in 5:41. So my on the bike time was 5:20. That’s a good time for me, about as good as this old body is capable of, I do believe. And so now I’m thinking that my 100 mile ride days at HHH are not over yet. I’ll smile while relishing that thought. I wasn’t in much of a photo taking mood this year, so this written report is about all there is to this year’s HHH blog.

Phone screenshot of my 2019 HHH result. It was nice having an app that gave me this info on the drive home. Something new every year, it seems.

The 2019 HHH route and stats. I finished with an 18.9 mph on the bike average. Not bad for me, I’m thinking.

This year’s HHH medal.

I took off just after 6:00 am this past Saturday, August 3rd, with intentions to do a longer ride, but the rain showed up before I even made it to Purtis Creek State Park, which is 12 miles away. So, I turned around and rode back toward home. As I got back into Mabank on the US175 shoulder, the pavement was dry again, so I decided I would just do laps back and forth on the shoulder near Mabank until the rain made me head for home.

But, I’d barely made it into Mabank when I picked up a large roofing staple in the rear tire. Somehow, it didn’t penetrate and flatten the tube, but it took a sizeable chunk out of the tire, and left the cord showing. I figured it just wasn’t in the cards for me to do an outdoor ride that day, and headed on home to end up with just 20 miles. I rode another 40 on the Xtream on the trainer at home.

That hadn’t been a problem in July. I rode 70 miles each of the first three Saturdays, then did 80 miles on the 27th. It was my first 80 mile ride of the year. I ended up with 560 miles for the month.

The July 27th 80 mile route.